March Madness: Holidays this Month

It’s March and spring is finally in the air (depending on where you live!). There’s so much to do and celebrate this month – take a look and find out what’s going on in the next 31 days!

All Month: Music in Our Schools Month

March is the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the U.S. It started as a single statewide celebration in 1973 and grew to a month in 1985. The goal of Music in Our Schools Month is to raise awareness about the importance of music education for all kids, and remind everyone that school is where all kids should have access to music.

March 2: Dr. Seuss’ Birthday

Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904. He was a famous American writer and cartoonist who wrote many amazing books for kids, including Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Some of his stories have even been made into feature-length movies, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Horton Hears a Who.

March 3: Magha Puja Day (Buddhist)

Magha Puja Day is considered one of the most important Buddhist celebrations. It refers to the worship that takes place on the full moon of the third lunar month to commemorate the day on which Lord Buddha recited the Fundamental Teaching to his disciples.

March 4: Holi (Hindu)

Holi is also called the Festival of Colours. It is a popular Hindu spring festival that’s observed in India, Guyana, Trinidad, the U.K. and Nepal, On the first day of Holi, huge bonfires are built to burn the demoness Holika. On the second day, people throw coloured powder and water at each other to fend off illness and disease, which are associated with the coming of spring.

March 5: Purim (Judaism)

On Purim Jewish people all over the world celebrate the deliverance of the Jewish people from the ancient Persian Empire. On Purim, people dress up in costumes (like Halloween), give charity to the poor and eat special food like Hamantashen – three-cornered pastries filled with fruit, nuts or seeds.

March 8: International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day has been observed since the early 1900s, which was a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world. Women’s inequality and oppression during that time caused many women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter work hours, better pay and voting rights.

March 14: Albert Einstein’s Birthday

One of the greatest scientific minds that ever lived – Albert Einstein – was born on March 14, 1879, to a Jewish family in Germany. He is best known for his theory of relativity, expressed by the equation E = mc2. In 1921, Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

March 17: St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is an annual feast day celebrating Saint Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland. While it is a national holiday in Ireland, it’s not an official holiday in North America, even though many people love to celebrate it. In fact, in Chicago, they even dye the Chicago River green to celebrate on March 17!

March 19: The Swallows Return to Capistrano

Every year, the famous cliff swallows (a type of bird) leave the site of their winter vacation (Argentina) and fly back north to San Juan, California, for the summer. The funny thing is, the birds always land at the mission in San Juan on or around March 19 – St. Joseph’s Day – to the ringing of the bells of the old church and a crowd of visitors who come from all over the world to await the swallows’ arrival and celebrate it with a fiesta (party) and a parade.

March 20: The First Day of Spring

The first full day of spring in 2009 is March 20. And we all know what comes after beautiful spring – the hot, lazy days of summer!